DUNNELLON, FL (352today.com) – Marion County community members are rallying around those who’ve been impacted by the two-vehicle accident that claimed eight lives Tuesday morning and sent more than 40 others to area hospitals. They’re providing spiritual and emotional support during a time of sorrow and uncertainty.

The eight were all agricultural workers headed to Cannon Farms to harvest watermelons. They’re all from Mexico and were in Florida on seasonal or temporary work visas.

The Florida Highway Patrol says a 2001 Ford Ranger driven by 41-year-old Bryan Howard crossed the center line of SR 40 and sideswiped the bus causing it to veer off the road, through a fence and crash into the field. He’s now charged with eight counts of DUI-manslaughter.

The wreckage of a bus that collided with a pickup truck on State Road 40 Tuesday, May 14, near Dunnellon. Eight farmworkers died. Courtesy: AP Photo/Alan Youngblood

The accident happened less than 10 miles from its destination at the Cannon Farm fields.

The Dunnellon-based operation reopened for business for Thursday morning. Consumers purchased fresh produce, salsa, salad dressing, and had their pictures taken with the farm’s signature sunflowers. Shoppers had smiles on their faces as they browsed the merchandise, not possessing a doleful cadence when conversing.

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But for others, life will never be the same because of the tragedy that occurred two days ago.

Rev. Russ Randall has been helping provide emotional support to the bus crash victims, their families, the owners of Cannon Farms; as well as people within the community. Courtesy: Ben Baugh/352today
The victims of the two-vehicle accident that left eight people dead Tuesday morning, May 14, 2024, were on their way to Cannon Farms to harvest watermelons. Courtesy: Ben Baugh/352today
Consumers shop at Cannon Farms on May 16, 2024. The farm has been closed since the deadly accident. Courtesy: Ben Baugh/352today

Russ Randall is a minister with First Baptist Church in Dunnellon, a family friend of the farm’s owners and a member of the Marion County Farm Bureau. He’s among those trying to lift up those who are suffering.

“One of the biggest challenges is the language barrier at this point and time,” said Randall. “Grief knows no language. These families are grieving now. This community is grieving now. That grief that these families are experiencing has flowed over into the lives here, and not just this community, but into the agricultural community as a whole.”

Many of the agricultural associations are offering to provide assistance and support to the families of the crash victims.

The Farmworker Association of Florida held a memorial service Wednesday evening in Apopka to honor the victims. About two dozen people gathered, some holding white crosses with the names of the people killed and sang songs in Spanish.

Mourners hold crosses with some of the victim’s names of a bus crash during a memorial vigil at The Farmworkers Association Wednesday, May 15, 2024, in Apopka. Courtesy: AP Photo/Chris O’Meara

“They were here to do honest work,” Jeannie Economos, an official with the Farmworker Association of Florida, said of the farmworkers. “Agricultural work is hard. They came here to work hard to support themselves and their families back in their home country.”

The association has also organized a GoFundMe campaign to help the survivors and victims. As of Thursday evening, more than a thousand people had donated with total contributions exceeding $83,000.

Those acts of kindness have resonated powerfully.

“What we’re asking folks to do is to watch the Cannon Farms Facebook page,” said Randall. ‘We have a desire to meet the needs of people and to do that well.”

An eyewitness view of the accident is something that will stay with Xavier and Sonya Castellanos. The couple was on their way to work, travelling directly behind the bus, at the time of impact between the two vehicles. They narrowly avoided a similar fate.

Xavier and Sonya Castellanos were driving behind the bus and narrowly escaped being involved in the accident. Courtesy: Ben Baugh/352today

The Castellanos were able to avoid the impact in part because of Sonya’s quick reaction.

“He (Xavier) was looking at the bus,” said Sonya. “I screamed Xavier!”

“I heard tires, when this guy lost control and I could see that he was on the other side,” said Xavier Castellanos. “He hit the bus. I saw everything from the beginning to the end. I was the first one who jumped out and opened the back door, to let people out, and help as many people as I could. It hurts.”

Emergency personnel work at the scene of a deadly farm bus crash on State Road 40 Tuesday, May 14, 2024, near Dunnellon. Courtesy: AP Photo/Alan Youngblood

The bus careened through a fence and flipped over into a horse pasture.

Just yards from where the wreckage once rested, a memorial to the farm workers has now taken root.

Mexican flag-draped crosses, candles and flowers mark the site on SR 40 of what is now referred to on Google maps as the “Ocala Ocho Memorial.” A destination for mourners to honor the eight souls who are no longer with us.

A memorial at the site where eight people were killed Tuesday morning May 14, 2024, has been set up on SR 40 in Ocala. Courtesy: Ben Baugh/352today
The memorial is now known as the Ocala Ocho, in honor of the eight lives lost. Courtesy: Ben Baugh/352today
Google maps notates the memorial site as the Ocala Ocho.

This story produced with contributions from the Associated Press & Denise Vickers/352today.